Donna thankfully had the presence of mind to throw herself to one side before being engulfed by the roaring fire. Unfortunately, not fast enough to keep her from burning herself. She gave a cry of pain, snatching her hurt hand way from hungry orange and yellow flames.

The Doctor had already launched himself out of his chair. He grabbed Donna by the shoulders and hauled her to her feet, well away from the fire. Standing with one arm protectively around her, the Doctor glared at the fireplace. As quickly as it began, the fire went out.

“Right.” The Doctor said through gritted teeth, his eyes flashing with anger. “Come on.”

Taking Donna by her uninjured hand, the Doctor ran for the door of the room. It slammed shut in their faces. They both heard the lock click into place. Giving an uncustomary snarl of anger, the Doctor was not to be deterred. He swung around back into the room, and without breaking stride, picked up a straight-backed side chair by one leg. Without pause, he swung the chair through the window, raining shattered glass on the flower beds outside.

As soon as she gauged his intent, Donna stood back slightly, protecting her face from flying glass with an upthrust arm. Helping Donna avoid the jagged edges of glass still clinging to the window, the Doctor assisted her down to the ground. With her still in tow, he then sprinted back to his TARDIS.

“Don't tell me that was all in my head, Doctor!” Donna told him as they ran towards the back of the garage. She cradled her hurt left hand carefully, trying not to show how much it hurt.

“No, that was very real, Donna.” The Doctor said shortly. He knew her hand was hurting her, and it made him incredibly angry and upset. Even though the Doctor was well aware that life in the TARDIS was hardly safe, it still rattled him when he couldn't protect a companion from harm.

Once safely back inside his ship, the first thing the Doctor did was reach under the console deck for the first aid kit. He made Donna sit in the jump seat, then squatting on the floor he opened the kit. Putting on a pair of surgical gloves, he sterilized the skin and carefully applied a soothing ointment to the burn area.

“Sorry, Doctor. It took me by surprise.” Donna said to him. She wasn't sure if he was upset with her, the unknown entity, or both.

“No worries, Donna. Not your fault. Actually, you were pretty quick on your feet. I'd make you my goal tender. If I had a football team with any goals to tend, that is.” he smiled reassuringly as he worked, “This is ointment made by the forest of Cheam, using a healing recipe given to them by the Sisterhood on Karn. You'll be right as rain in a few ticks, you'll see.”

“That works fast, feels better already .” Donna smiled down at him,. “Smells a bit...organic, though.” She added, wrinkling her nose, “Couldn't they find any pefumey stuff to mix in with it? I'm going to smell like I've shat myself.”

“Why do you think I put on these gloves?” The Doctor said. Tossing away the gloves, he straightened up and walked over to the console. “No worries, Donna. You'll only have to stand downwind of me for the next ten minutes. The injury will be gone, by then. Then you can go into the bathroom and wash it off.”

“Terrific.” Donna said dryly, walking over to him. “And what'll you be doing in that time? You're not going to leave, are you? Violentia's still missing, we can't go without at least trying to look for her.”

“No, not leaving yet.” He said, turning to fiddle with some dials on the console. “If you're friend's out there, don't worry. We'll find her Donna, I promise. But right now,” The Doctor beamed at her, suddenly as excited as a child on Christmas morning, “I have to cobble together a proper paranormal detection kit.”

“Oi!” Donna chided him, “If you're gonna' start singing 'Ghost Busters' buster, I'm so outta' here.” She laughed when the Doctor's face fell.

“What's wrong with my singing? Rose liked my singing. Martha never complained.” He grumbled.

“I heard you singing in the shower yesterday morning, spaceman. You didn't half murder 'To Die a Virgin.' Anyway, thankfully there isn't a TARDIS karaoke night.” Donna said, headed off to the nearest TARDIS bathroom, “And, if there ever is, I'm going home to visit granddad.”

By late afternoon, they were back inside the house. Golden sunlight streamed into the west-facing windows, but angry black clouds were gathering over the hills in the north, the harbingers of a stormy night. A faint trace of thunder rumbled ominously in the far distance.

When she first saw what the Doctor had cobbled together, Donna almost burst out laughing, but managed a straight face, because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. He seemed quite proud of the device.

The Doctor was weighted down with what appeared to be a combination of an old Bakelite radio, and something like a miniature seismograph, with the bottom half of a kitchen blender stuck on to it. The device was lit up with yellow and green lights, and topped by a fist-sized gray satellite dish. The whole thing was mounted inside a large wooden tray, whose sides were painted blue with faded red letters on the front which read, “Fresh Roasted Peanuts! Only 5 s.”.

There were two long, wide canvas straps which the Doctor had put over his shoulders, so that he could keep his hands free. The former peanut vendor's tray rested against his stomach, projecting out so much that Donna hoped he wouldn't have to escape through any doorways in a hurry.

Turning the device on, the Doctor began walking through the house, room by room, beginning with the library. The device gave off a regular series of tiny bleeps, but otherwise did nothing. The needles of the seismograph stayed motionless, and there was nothing but white noise static coming from the radio.

“Maybe it's away on its tea break.” Donna whispered.

“Yeah, maybe. Or,” the Doctor replied softly, concentrating on the device, “could be whatever it is, is merely biding its time, waiting for the right moment to catch us unawares.”

“Oh, that's just blinking fantastic. Cheers for that happy thought, Doctor.” She muttered back at him.

“Anytime, Donna.” The Doctor said, oblivious to her sarcasm.

The Doctor and Donna walked up the carpeted staircase to the second floor. They got to the landing at the halfway point, when the bleeping abruptly increased.

“Oooh, I think we've got a hot one, Donna.” The Doctor said, clearly thrilled by the prospect.

No sooner had he spoken, when an officer's sword which had been hanging from the wall, suddenly came crashing down, barely missing the Doctor's device! But, it didn't end there. The sword then rose from the carpeted floor, and slowly, point first, advanced on the Doctor. He and Donna backed away, beating a hasty retreat down the stairs. Unfortunately for them, the sword followed.

Quickly removing the wooden tray from around his neck, the Doctor placed it on a nearby sofa. As the sword continued to slowly progress forward, now making slashing motions in the air, he snatched a cavalry lance from off of the wall, and defended himself and his friend with it.

“Keep back Donna!” He yelled to her. That was all the Doctor had time for, as his phantom assailant pressed him hard.

Back and forth across the main hall of the house, the Doctor and the invisible swordsman parried with each other. Somehow the Doctor had been backed against the library door. He used the lance one-handed to push the sword away from his face, while at the same time desperately reaching for the brass door handle behind him.

He stumbled slightly as the door gave way, and into the library they flew, the Doctor ducking and backpedaling, using both hands on the lance to keep his ghostly opponent at bay. His brow began to perspire, and the Doctor was worried that his sweaty hand might lose its iron grip on the lance. The invisible swordsman seemed to be driving him towards the fireplace, so the Doctor angled his way closer to the window he'd broken earlier. The gauzy curtains fluttered in the wind, and the sword flashed with the red gleam of a setting sun, as a long, low mutter of thunder came from across the moors.

The Doctor was valiantly doing his utmost to keep the swordplay well away from Donna's position. She'd followed them into the library, keeping at a safe distance with her back flat against the bookcase on the far wall, watching the Doctor fight for his life. Suddenly, there came an odd scraping noise from behind her, and she felt herself falling backwards. How could that be? That was her last thought, as something sharp and painful came in contact with the back of Donna's head, and her consciousness faded.